Voloridge Investment Management LLC Buys 91,975 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,371,972 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 91,975 shares during the quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.25% of Hormel Foods worth $43,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,905 shares of the company's stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 626,360 shares of the company's stock worth $19,649,000 after acquiring an additional 20,514 shares during the period. Aviva PLC lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 313,619 shares of the company's stock worth $9,838,000 after acquiring an additional 116,304 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,374,456 shares of the company's stock worth $137,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107,270 shares during the period. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 71,010 shares of the company's stock worth $2,228,000 after acquiring an additional 9,120 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.1%

HRL traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $29.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,770,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,646,123. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $27.59 and a twelve month high of $35.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $29.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total transaction of $136,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,902,835.20. This represents a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on HRL. Bank of America raised Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hormel Foods has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.33.

About Hormel Foods

Hormel Foods Corporation develops, processes, and distributes various meat, nuts, and other food products to retail, foodservice, deli, and commercial customers in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Retail, Foodservice, and International segments. The company provides various perishable products that include fresh meats, frozen items, refrigerated meal solutions, sausages, hams, guacamoles, and bacons; and shelf-stable products comprising canned luncheon meats, nut butters, snack nuts, chili, shelf-stable microwaveable meals, hash, stews, tortillas, salsas, tortilla chips, nutritional food supplements, and others.